Anger is Infectious
by AgentOklahoma
Summary: An anomaly lets loose a dinosaur, infected with a lethal parasite that induces rage in it's host. The dinosaur dies but does the parasite die with it? Mild slash Stephen/Conner. Don't like slash? Don't read then. Rated for violence and some language.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer-**_ I do not own Primeval and/or anything associated with it. If I did, Helen Cutter would have died loooooong ago, Steven Hart would still be alive and he'd be with Connor. Also, there would be cookie dinosaurs. Hope you read and review. If you're interested in continuing your reading of this story, I recommend you read the AN down the bottom.

_**Anger is Infectious**_

_**Chapter One**_

Connor Temple panted heavily, keeping himself underneath the bed he'd found for his hiding place. He let his head drop against the cold wooden floor, trying to calm himself down and keep his breathing quiet. He heard the front door crack and finally collapse in the front room and he froze, his heart pounding in his head.

'_Oh god, oh god. He's here.'_ He thought, shaking in fear. He listened carefully and looked at the bottom of the bedroom door. He tried his hardest not to cry or speak or even breathe too loudly.

"Come on Connor. Come out here now." The person said, then he heard glass breaking and some small shards of what appeared to be the base of a lamp slid underneath the door. "Get out here now!" The person shouted, and more things broke and shattered in the next room. Then everything went deadly quiet.

He heard footsteps from the other room coming closer and closer to the bedroom door and then it opened. He saw brown boots walking into the room and he covered his mouth to keep silent. The feet walked slowly around the room and he heard the bed covers being moved harshly and some furniture being knocked over. He jolted every time something was knocked over but he kept quiet.

Then the person walked slowly out of the room and into the hallway. Conner let out a relieved, breathy laugh. Then the footsteps returned and he saw them walk over to the bed. He tried to push himself up as close to the wall as possible but he felt the person grab at his ankle and pull him out from underneath the bed.

"No! Please no!" He stuttered, kicking at the person's hand, but they didn't let go. He was pulled out from the bed and the person grabbed his hair, knocking his head against the wooden floor. He blinked, trying to get rid of the blurring in his eyes as he moaned in pain. The person tugged at his hair, bringing his face up.

Stephen Hart looked down at him with an enraged look on his face and in the hand that wasn't holding onto Connor's hair, a large hunting knife. Conner attempted to struggle in the older man's grip but Stephen just knocked his head down onto the floor again.

"You thought you could do this to me? You thought you could conspire like this, behind my back?" Stephen shouted at Conner, bringing the knife up threateningly to the younger man's throat.

"N-no. I wasn't conspiring, I swear." Conner said, his voice shaking in fear. Stephen let out a humourless laugh and pressed the blade lightly against the man's throat.

"You liar. Don't LIE TO ME!" Stephen roared at Conner. Conner closed his eyes and let out a terrified sob. Stephen set his mouth into a grin, thin line.

"I'm sorry to do this Connor but I can't let you off for this." Stephen said, standing up and tugging on Connor's hair so he was sitting up.

"No, no, no. Please no! Stephen, please don't!" Connor cried out, clawing at the man's hand and writhing around like a terrified snake.

"Goodbye Connor."

"No! Stephen! NO!"

_-  
Three Days Earlier  
-_

"Conner!"

Conner Temple looked up from one of the screens of the ADD set up in the middle of the room and around at his boss, Nick Cutter.

"Yes? Sorry Professor. Just recalibrating the-" He started but Nick interrupted him.

"It's fine. Come on, Lester's called a meeting."

Conner went into the conference room and sat down, just to find out that Lester was calling another 'Don't alert the public' meeting.

For an hour.

Conner felt his eyes closing every now and then as Lester droned on and on about discretion and all that in his monotonous voice but before Conner could doze off completely, someone would kick him on the shin. After the third time, he looked around the table surreptitiously to see who it was. His eyes landed on Stephen who was mouthing something to him but Connor just tilted his head to the side and mouthed 'What?'. Stephen just shook his head and waved his hand, gesturing 'Never mind'.

The meeting let out and he was on his way back to the ADD station when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw that it was Stephen who motioned for them to keep walking.

"What's up?" Connor asked his co-worker as they moseyed.

"Just...Are you alright?" Stephen asked, looking at the student. Connor just gave him a bemused look.

"Yeah. Fine. Why do you ask?" Connor asked, sitting down when he came to his station. Stephen seemed to stumble over his own words for a moment before he was finally able to piece together what he wanted to say.

"Well, you seem very tired a lot recently and I haven't seen you eating very much and well..." Stephen trailed off, going a little red in the face. Connor tilted his head to the side in confusion, a lot like a puppy dog and Stephen's face got redder. Connor just shrugged it off.

"Oh, that. I'm fine. Just tinkering with the Anomaly Detector. It's taking a bit longer to work out the kinks than I thought. I'll go back to normal when I'm finished." Connor said. Stephen nodded and put this blank look on his face and straightened himself up.

"Better be soon. We can't have you in the field if you're falling asleep on us." He said in a very forced way before he walked off. Connor's eyes followed just long enough to see Stephen whack himself on the back of the head with his hand and mutter something Connor couldn't catch from so far away.

"And he's asking if _I'm_ alright." Connor went back to tapping away at the keyboard when the alarm sounded, 'Anomaly Detected' flashing on the screen. Cutter appeared behind him as he tapped furiously at the keyboard.

"Where is it, Connor?" Nick asked, pulling on his jacket.

"It's..." Connor started but he turned to Cutter with a smile on his face and a laugh in his voice. "It's two blocks from here." He told them.

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They'd gotten everyone mobilised very quickly and they managed to make it to the anomaly site only using two cars, one for the gear, the other for just in case whatever came through needed to be transported. Everyone else just ran. They found that the anomaly site was an office building and from outside, they could hear people screaming from inside the small four storey building.

"Alright," Cutter said, facing the team and the military men that were accompanying them. "Abby and you go and take the first floor. You and Stephen, take the second. You and I will take the third floor and you two and Connor will take the fourth." Cutter said, pointing to the different military men with them. "Grab a radio and a weapon. Keep on the lookout." Cutter told them before they all went to gear up.

Connor followed the military men into the building and up to the top floor and they walked through the rooms quickly, checking every single one for any sign of the anomaly or any creatures that may have come through.

"_Floor one's clear_." Abby said through the radio.

"_Second floor's clear."_ Stephen said.

"_Third floor clear."_ Cutter said last.

Connor walked very carefully, getting more and more nervous as time went past.

"I think this floor's clear." Connor said. One of the military men were about to respond when something large barrelled past Connor from the room at the end of the hall and crashed into the man across from him, sending him tumbling to the floor. Connor jumped back and the other guard stood in front of him pointing his gun at the creature.

"There's no need for that." Connor told the guard, putting his hand on the top of the gun and lowered it. "It's a Scelidosaurus. An Early Jurassic herbivore." Connor said, walking over to the dinosaur. The man that had been knocked to the floor was slowly getting up, rubbing his head.

"_Connor? Are you alright?"_ Cutter asked on the radio. Connor grabbed the radio from his pocket.

"Everything's fine. It's a Scelidosaurus. Cute little bugger." Connor said, running his hand up and down the dinosaur's spine, then he noticed the animal was breathing labouredly and its legs were shaking.

"I think something's wrong with it." Connor said.

"_Alright. We'll be there in a moment."_ Cutter said to Connor. Then, the dinosaur started making this extremely unhealthy wheezing noise and this thick, white gas started coming out of its' nose and mouth.

"Uh, Cutter..." Connor said into the radio. The guard in front of the dinosaur keeled over and started seizing, completely unconscious. The other guard went to help but Connor held his arm out.

"No. Don't. Uh...Cover your mouth. Don't breathe in the gas." Connor told the guard, then he grabbed the red scarf that he was glad he bothered to put on this morning and covered his mouth with it, tying it around his head so it covered his nose and mouth. The guard ripped a bit off the sleeve of his uniform and covered his mouth with it as well.

"Cutter." Connor called into the radio. "Cutter, don't come up here. There's something really wrong. The Scelidosaurus is emitting some kind of gas from its lungs. It knocked one of the military guys out cold. He looks in a really bad way." Connor said, feeling a little bit dizzy. He looked down at the end of the hallway and saw Stephen run up to them, his two military guides weren't with him.

"Stephen. Don't breathe in...Don't br-" Connor said before he fell onto his knees and then to the ground, followed by the second military guard. Stephen rushed over and appeared to be saying something to him, before the other man was brought down by the gas as well. Then Connor finally lost consciousness.

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Connor opened his eyes to see a white ceiling and felt something on his face that definitely wasn't his scarf. He sat up and looked around, seeing that he was in a hospital room with three other beds. Only two were occupied. One had one of the military guards and the other had Stephen. The thing that was on his face was a plastic oxygen mask. Connor quickly pulled it off and found the nurse button sitting beside him. He pressed it and within minutes, there was a doctor asking him whole lots of questions, two nurses that were poking and prodding him and Abby and Cutter, standing just off to the side.

"So what happened?" Connor asked when the doctor and nurses finally left him alone. "Where's the other military bloke?"

"The Scelidosaurus died from asphyxiation and when it keeled over, it landed on top of him, breaking one of his ribs and that punctured his lung. We didn't get there in time." Cutter told him. Connor looked down at his hands, which were sitting in his lap. He looked over at the other two unconscious bodies on the beds across from him.

"How are they?" He said, nodding at the other two.

"They're fine. They should come around soon." Cutter said, taking a seat next to Connor's bed while Abby sat down on the side.

They all talked but Connor couldn't help but look at Stephen, just checking every now and then to see if he was still alive. If there was an irregularity in his heart beat, he would look at the man to see if he was waking up or getting worse. Eventually, the military man woke up, was checked out and cleared to go home and that left Stephen.

"Connor, could you tell us exactly what happened when the Scelidosaurus got there?" Cutter asked as they all sat around Stephen's bed. Connor had been cleared to go a while ago but he didn't feel right leaving when Stephen was still unconscious.

"Well, it came out and knocked down the guard, the one who didn't make it. Then it started, I dunno, wheezing. Then the gas started coming out of its mouth and it knocked the guard out cold then he started seizing. Me and the other guard covered our mouths but we breathed in some of the gas. Then Stephen comes up and doesn't even cover his mouth and nose and then I blacked out." Connor explained briefly. Cutter stood there for a moment and then he stood up from his spot next to Stephen.

"Well, it would be best to see what caused this. We'll need to autopsy the Scelidosaurus." Cutter said, starting to walk off.

"I'll join you." Abby said, then she turned back to Connor. "You coming?" She asked. Connor shook his head.

"Nah. I'm just gonna stay and wait 'til Stephen wakes up. I'll catch you later." He told them. Abby nodded and gave him a quick hug, then they left, leaving Connor and a sleeping Stephen alone in the hospital room.

"You guys are always telling me not to rush into rooms and here you are, knocked out 'cause you rushed into the bloody room." Connor said with a slight laugh. No response from Stephen.

"Come on man. You've gotta wake up." Connor said, getting a little bit antsy when an hour had passed from when Abby and Nick had left.

"But it's so nice to have a lie in." A raspy voice came from the bed. Connor looked up from his hands to see Stephen looking at him, smiling.

"Welcome back, mate. How you feeling?" Connor asked. Stephen pulled himself up so he was sitting upright with a wince.

"Alright I guess. Splitting headache, though. I imagine this is what it feels like to have a railroad spike put through your head." Stephen said, squinting from the bright light of the lamps and overhead lights of the room. Connor switched off the bedside lamp and dimmed down the lights with the remote next to Stephen.

"Better?" He asked. Stephen closed his eyes and nodded, leaning his head back against the hospital bed's headboard.

"Much." He said, opening his eyes once again and giving Connor a quick once over. "How about you? How do you feel?" Stephen asked.

"I feel fine." Conner said, looking over the older man with a frown. "You don't." He said. Stephen gave Connor a bemused look.

"I've just got a headache. Now, if you just turned up the heat in here, I think it would be less likely that I would die of hypothermia." Stephen joked, pulling the blankets up higher around himself as he shivered slightly.

"Stephen, its' boiling in here." Connor told Stephen, raising a hand to feel Stephen's temperature, staring at the monitor as well. 102 degrees. Connor was about to ask Stephen how he felt but then the man started convulsing on the bed.

"Stephen. Crap." Connor held Stephen down on the bed and pressed the emergency button above the headboard.

"Connor." Stephen whimpered in pain as he seized and then the nurses and the doctor ran in, pulling Connor away from the man in the bed.

And all Connor could do was stand there and watch and think...

'_Why only him?'_

TBC

Author's notes

Guitargirl326- Pretty long chapter compared to what I normally write.

Connor-Yeah. And I thought you'd make me a little bit more panicky.

Guitargirl326- Nah, I wanted you to seem a little bit more in control for the sake of making it all the more effective  
when you start freaking out later. It's a writer thing.

Stephen-Plus you don't want to make him girly until later. /winks/

Guitargirl326-Exactly. Anyway, I'm gonna do something I did for one of my previous stories. I'm gonna ask a question  
relating to the series and if just ONE person can review and give me the right answer, I'll update within 4 hours of  
receiving that message, rather than my normal, mandatory one week. So the question today is-

Connor-Oh can I ask it? Please.

Guitargirl326-Oh alright. I can never say no to you.

Connor-Alright. In season one, episode two: What is the name of the centipede that attacked us and poisoned Stephen?

Guitargirl326-Alright, get your answers in and I'll update in either four hours or a week. Hope you read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Anger is Infectious**_

_**Chapter Two**_

The hospital staff finally got Stephen stabilised and Connor had called Cutter and Abby to tell them what happened. He'd caught them just finishing up the autopsy so Abby said they'd be there right away. Connor sat next to Stephen's bed, watching for any signs of distress. Every now and then, in his fevered state, the man would start mumbling in his dreams and he would reach out or start thrashing in his bed, but Connor would put his hand on the man's head, run his fingers through his hair and he'd calm down.

"What's happened?" Abby asked as she and Nick walked in and surveyed the two men.

"He started pitching a fit and his temperature's gone way up. I don't know what's wrong." Connor said, hearing Stephen muttering in his sleep again, so he put his hand on his head then he turned and looked at Cutter again. "Could it be a reaction to the gas?" He asked.

"I don't think so. Why would only he show symptoms when you and the guard didn't?" He questioned. Connor shrugged in frustration.

"I don't know. Maybe it's 'cause he didn't cover his mouth or nose when he breathed it in." Connor offered.

"No. We talked it over with the doctor. He said that you all had the same levels of the toxin in your blood." Cutter said.

"Well maybe it was something he ate or drank before or after and it's messing with the chemicals." Connor said.

"Doctor said that Stephen told them that he hadn't eaten anything today and that he'd only drunken water which was also what you drank before you were admitted." Cutter said.

"Maybe it's 'cause he hadn't eaten anything, then!" Connor shouted, getting very frustrated with the fact that Cutter wasn't offering any reasons for this or solutions, just cutting down the ones he thought of.

"Connor, can you please calm down. Stephen's going to be fine. We just need to wait for the toxin to work out of his system." Abby reassured him. Connor slumped over in his seat and sighed.

"No need to get so worked up on my account." The voice from the bed told him. Connor turned around and saw that Stephen was awake and looking at them with a smile on his face. Connor then realised that his hand was still in Stephen's hair so he pulled it away and sat it in his lap.

"Are you feeling alright now?" Cutter asked. Stephen nodded and sat up in his bed.

"I feel fine now. No fever, heart rate's normal." Stephen said, checking his own pulse and pressing a hand to his cheeks and forehead while he looked at the monitor. "Can I get out of here? I hate hospitals." Stephen said, his hands fidgeting and tugging on the edge of the blanket as he looked around the room nervously.

"Well, we've got to get you checked out by the doctor first. Then we'll see." Cutter said. Stephen nodded and relaxed against the headboard.

"Do you need anything?" Connor asked. "Food? Drink?" He asked, getting a little bit antsy from sitting in that chair.

"How about you up here with me." Stephen said, winking and patting the bed next to him. Connor's jaw dropped as he stuttered, then Abby walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't mess with Connor like that." Abby admonished lightly with a smile on her face. "It's not nice." She told him. Stephen smiled and shook his head.

"No, I'm fine Connor." Stephen said. Nick and Abby went to leave so they could finish the paperwork on this last job.

"We'll be back in a couple of hours. Are you staying, Connor?" Abby asked. Connor nodded and remained sitting down.

"Yeah. I'll be back in the ARC when the doctor finishes checking over Stephen." Connor said, giving them a small smile. Abby returned it and she and Nick walked out of the hospital room, just for a doctor to walk back in with another nurse and some equipment.

"Would you like Mr Temple to stay for this, Mr Hart?" The doctor asked. Stephen looked at Connor and thought for a moment.

"If he wants to." Stephen said, giving Connor a look to see what his reaction would be.

"Um, I'll go for just a minute. I'm just gonna get some coffee. I'll be right back." Connor said, standing up from his chair. Stephen nodded and Connor turned around to leave but Stephen called him back.

"Connor?"

"Yeah?" Connor replied, waiting for a moment.

"I meant what I said earlier." Stephen said, winking. Connor felt his face flush as he turned and walked out of the room. Not exactly what he thought his day was gonna turn out to be.

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Connor sat outside the hospital room with a Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands as his left leg jumped up and down. He thought about what Stephen had said to him before he'd left the man to go to the cafeteria.

Was he kidding? Was he being serious?

Connor shook the thoughts out of his head and took a sip of coffee. Stephen was just screwing with him like he normally did. Nothing more. Connor turned his head when he saw the doctor and the nurse leave the room and he stood up.

"How is he?" Connor asked. The doctor looked through the chart while he talked.

"He appears to have come back from the recent fever and seizures. I'd like to keep him in for observation for tonight but if no other symptoms present, he shoulder be able to go home tomorrow afternoon." The doctor said. Connor smiled and thanked the doctor before he went into the hospital room, seeing Stephen sitting there, glaring stiffly at the cup of coffee that Connor had brought earlier and that the nurse had given him.

"You alright? Black, two sugars right?" Connor asked, sitting down next to Stephen's bed. The older man looked at Connor with a far off look, then a smile made its way to his lips.

"Yeah, just not really in the mood for coffee today." Stephen said, pushing the little wheely table away so the coffee was out of his sight. Connor noticed that contrary to how he'd been earlier, the blankets had all been pushed to the end of the bed and Stephen had gotten rid of the T-shirt that was part of the hospital clothes they'd all been dressed in, leaving the man in only a pair of teal sweatpants.

Connor nodded and took a sip of his own drink before he stared at the linoleum floor. Silence settled in the room for a while before Stephen finally started talking.

"So what happened in the building? Cutter didn't really give me a chance to ask." Stephen said, turning his attention away from glaring at the coffee cup or the blankets and towards the student sitting next to him.

"I'm not quite sure. Nick said he'd come back with any more information once they're done analysing the samples from the Scelidosaurus." Connor said, his leg jumping up and down again. Stephen stared at him and then his hand shot out and held Connor's leg still, sitting just before the knee. Connor stopped moving altogether and stared at Stephen's hand, waiting for what the older man was going to do next. He looked up to meet Stephen's gaze and saw that he was smiling.

"You're making me jumpy." Stephen said, letting go of Connor's leg and moving back to the headboard of his bed. Connor let go of the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and covered it up with a sip of his coffee.

"So the doctor tells me you should be able to leave tomorrow." Connor said, not looking Stephen in the eyes.

"Not soon enough. I hate hospitals." Stephen muttered, crossing his legs on the bed. "Smells way too clean." He said disdainfully.

"I don't like it here either. Trips to the hospital always mean someone I care about is hurt." Connor said absent-mindedly, swirling the liquid in the Styrofoam cup without really thinking about it. Stephen looked at Connor with a sly smile on his face.

"You care about me?" Stephen said. Connor looked up from the floor and at Stephen, his face going red as he stuttered out a response.

"Well, yeah you're my mate. I care about you like I care about...Cutter. Or Abby." Connor said.

"But you always said you were in love with Abby." Stephen said, the smile turning into a full-blown smirk.

"Well not since recently. She's more like a sister. I can't really fall in love with her. You're more of a mate." Connor said.

"But you can fall in love with a mate." Stephen pointed out and Connor just got redder and redder.

"Well yeah but well-" Connor trailed off, not trusting himself to talk without making a complete and utter fool of himself. Stephen started chuckling as Connor got up and turned around.

"I'm going to the ARC." Connor said, pulling up his collar.

"I'll see you there, love." Stephen said with a smile.

"Stop looking at me." Connor said embarrassedly as he walked away.

"Bye sweetheart."

"Don't look at me."

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Connor got back to his and Abby's apartment, dragging his feet across the floor. The incident with the Scelidosaurus was a little much for him and he felt exhausted.

"I'm gonna put on the kettle. Feel like a film tonight?" Abby asked. Connor nodded and went to get a change of clothes. The ones he had to change into after the hospital were the same ones he went in wearing and they had definitely seen better days. He started to suspect that the dinosaur had spit on him or had vomited or something when it had died because there were stains on his shirt and vest that were definitely not from him.

"Yeah. Nothing about dinosaurs, aliens, monsters or diseases." He said, grabbing the first clothes he could see and getting changed quickly before he collapsed on the couch that Abby had already set up for their movie night.

"How's Stephen?" Abby asked as the ads at the beginning started to play.

"He's alright. He's been acting really weird, though." Connor said, taking a sip of his tea.

"How?" Abby asked, ignoring the need to press the play button for the movie, finding this a little more interesting instead.

"Well, he's been acting all flirty, you know? Like how he was when you and Cutter were there." Connor said, picking up the remote and pressing play.

"'Flirty' how?" Abby asked, pressing pause. Connor rolled his eyes. He just wanted to relax and watch a film. He didn't want to fret over how Stephen's been acting around him.

"Just...flirty. I dunno." Connor said.

"Is he giving you looks?" Abby said. Connor thought back, to while he was with Stephen.

"There were...looks." Connor said nervously.

"Touching? Does he touch a lot?" She asked.

"Um yeah. But not in, like, a filthy way." Connor said.

"What about the things he said? Did he keep making comments after me and Cutter left?" Abby asked. Connor nodded slowly, biting his lip.

"Oh, he's a bit interested in you." Abby said, going back to watching the movie. Connor paused the movie and looked at Abby.

"Really?" Connor asked. Abby ate some popcorn, smiled and nodded.

"For a while now I think." Abby said, picking up the remote and pressing play on the film. Connor sat there, then he turned his gaze back to the film but his attention was elsewhere.

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Connor sat at his desk, quickly signing all of his paperwork and watching the laptop in front of him, keeping an eye on the software prototype that was running. He had a headphone in one ear, music playing softly to nullify the boredom. It was helping a little bit. He looked around and noticed that it was early enough so that no-one was there and there wasn't really a chance of someone calling on him unless it was the ADD system and even then, he had an alarm on his phone in case there was any change. Connor put the other headphone in and turned the music up as loud as possible, to the point of discomfort and went back to working.

He was just putting the finishing touches on his last bit of paperwork when he felt someone come up behind him and tap him on his shoulder. Connor jumped and took the headphones out, turning around to see Stephen smirking at him, still standing very close to Connor with this predatory glint in his eyes.

"Good morning, Connor." Stephen said, moving to the other side of Connor's desk.

"Morning." Connor said simply, looking back at his work, trying to force down the blush working it's way up his cheeks. The silence was strained and as Connor looked up to locate his cup of tea, he saw Stephen still staring at him.

"Was there...Was there something needed?" Connor asked, stuttering nervously. Stephen hesitated before he responded.

"Yeah, I was wondering whether you'd like to have a drink." Stephen said, sitting on the edge of the desk.

"I um, I have a drink." Connor said, raising his cup of tea and taking a sip.

"You know what I mean." Stephen said, rolling his eyes.

"You mean like a date?" Connor asked. Stephen nodded.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He said, giving Connor a look that made the younger man squirm in his seat.

"With me?"

"That's the idea." Stephen said, walking around the desk and standing right behind Connor, standing close enough for the younger man to feel his breath on his neck.

"Um, well...I, um-" Connor stuttered, then Nick opened the door looked at them, raising an eyebrow before he addressed Connor.

"I need to talk to you Con." Nick said, waiting for Connor to get out of his chair and walk over. Connor looked back at Stephen, making sure to avoid his gaze.

"Sorry, I'll um, get back to you." Connor stuttered nervously, then left the room. Stephen stood up straight, waiting until Nick and Connor had left the room to growl at the door and kick the leg of the desk and walked out himself.

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Connor and Nick walked the halls for a minute before they finally came to Nick's office. The older man leant against his desk, thinking about how he was going to talk about the sensitive subject he was about to bring up.

"Is there something going on between you and Stephen?" He asked. Connor blanched and shook his head.

"No. No, um, he did ask me but I don't know if-"

"Connor, you're rambling." Nick pointed out, silencing the man. He shut his mouth and nodded.

"Sorry professor." Connor said, looking down at his hands, clasped in his lap. Cutter let out a sigh before he started talking.

"Connor, I know Stephen is trying to start something with you, but keep in mind that he is one of those people that changes his mind as often as someone might change their clothes. Just don't get too invested in the idea of him planning to commit to you." Nick said carefully, watching Connor's response. The student sat there, thinking with a frown on his face.

"I get it. Thanks professor. I'll keep that in mind." Connor said, offering Nick a small smile. Nick was just looking out for him. Connor stood up and left Nick's office, walking back to his own when he saw Stephen walking past in the opposite direction and as Connor passed, Stephen's head turned, his eyes tracing the body up and down as he stalked past like an animal watching its prey.

Then Stephen looked away, turning a corner before he disappeared from sight. Connor felt a shiver run up his spine and as he sat down in his office.

How he was acting made Connor wonder whether Stephen was interested in getting Connor in his bed, or something else.

TBC

Author's notes

Guitargirl-Well that was anti-climactic.

Connor-What do you mean?

Guitargirl-Well I'm a little behind schedule so I didn't get to reveal as much as I wanted to in this chapter. But the next one will be a bit more...dramatic.

Stephen-Do I get to jump his bones?

Guitargirl-Sadly, no. This is T for violence not M for sexy-times. Sorry Stephen.

Stephen- :(

Guitargirl-Anyway, here's this week's question. In season 3, episode 4, whose lap did Connor have to sit on in the Mini when they were trying to get to the anomaly?


	3. Chapter 3

_**Anger is Infectious**_

_**Chapter Three**_

"Connor!" Cutter shouted from across the ARC atrium. Connor looked up from his current little gizmo and in the direction of Nick. It had been three days since the incident with the Scelidosaurus but Cutter and Abby were acting really weird. Cutter waved him over with a very serious look on his face so Connor put the device down and jogged over, seeing a very serious looking Abby, standing just behind Cutter.

"Hey professor. Abby. What's up?" Connor asked, a bemused look on his face. Abby and Nick looked at each other, then they grabbed Connor by either arm and dragged him into Cutter's office.

"Whoa, what's...what's going on?" Connor asked as they forced him into the desk chair, Cutter holding him in place while Abby picked up a cup from the edge of Cutter's desk.

"What? What's that?" Connor asked, going very still.

"I'm really sorry for this Con." Abby said before she tipped the cup out into her hand, revealing a couple cubes of ice. Before Connor could ask what they were doing, Abby grabbed his jaw, forced open his mouth and shoved the ice-cubes into his mouth, placing her hand over it to make sure he didn't spit them out. Connor sat completely still, waiting for something, anything to happen. Apparently so were Cutter and Abby. They looked at each other again and let Connor go, straight away. Connor sat up and shook his arms out, biting down and chewing on the ice.

"Not that I mind being restrained and force fed ice," Connor said sarcastically, "But _why_ was I restrained and force fed ice?" He asked, rubbing his wrists.

"It's the Scelidosaurus." Cutter said.

"When we were about to start the autopsy, we found that it didn't die from asphyxiation like we thought." Abby said.

"What did it die from them?" Connor asked.

"It didn't." Cutter said.

"When it was brought back to the lab, it's body temperature was lower than what it should've been. This is because the office building's air con unit was malfunctioning, dropping the temperature. It wasn't enough to affect you guys but it went into a sort of hibernation so when it warmed up, it woke up." Abby explained.

"So it's alive?" Connor asked. They shook their heads.

"Not anymore." Abby said.

"We put it into an enclosure but it soon became violent. It attacked Abby and I before we had to kill it." Nick said.

"But Scelidosaurus are herbivores. _Non-violent_ herbivores." Connor said. Nick knelt down in front of Connor and Abby moved in close as well.

"They are. But this one was violent, reacted badly with cold temperatures and before it died, the Scelidosaurus managed to drink its entire enclosure's daily supply of water." Cutter said.

"Maybe it was thirsty." Connor said.

"That was five hundred gallons in five minutes. We timed it." Abby said, her voice shaking. Connor's eyes widened.

"Think about it Connor. Docile creature becomes violent, consumes large quantities of water but doesn't stop feeling thirsty and reacts badly with cold temperatures." Cutter said, waiting for Connor to realise what they were saying.

"Do you think it's a disease?" Connor asked.

"More of a parasite. We collected it once the Scelidosaurus died. It attempted to vacate the Scelidosaurus and attach itself to us." Cutter said.

"So, what? You thought I was infected?" Connor asked, incredulously. Abby and Cutter looked at each other sheepishly.

"You've drunken three bottles of water in the last hour which is a lot more than you normally do." Abby said.

"You're always telling me to drink more water."

"And you did start throwing things earlier today." Nick said.

"A prototype kept breaking and electrocuting me, so I got a little angry and I threw it. It doesn't mean I'm a homicidal parasite host." Connor said, frowning at the other two. Then something occurred to him.

"Wait, but if you found the parasite in the Scelidosaurus, then how would I be infected?" Connor asked.

"We found the remains of what appear to be eggs in the Scelidosaurus' stomach. So when it was unconscious and the parasite thought it was dying, the young attempted to find a new host, not wanting to compete with the parent parasite while it tried to keep the original host alive. So it tried the closest available bodies." Cutter said.

"We checked the deceased guard and the one that left the hospital. The deceased man had one but I guess it was unaware that the man had died. The living man didn't have a parasite thought. So something you and he did, stopped the parasite young from infecting you both." Abby said. Connor thought for a moment before it dawned on him.

"We covered our mouths and noses." Connor said, looking at the other two.

"That's all?" Nick asked. Connor nodded.

"Yeah. When the guard passed out I told the other guard to cover his mouth with something and I used my scarf." Connor said, with a smile, congratulating himself for his cleverness but the smile dropped as a thoughts occurred to him.

"Um, did Stephen have a mask on when he passed out?" Connor asked nervously. Nick and Abby's eyes widened and they all went out into the hallway and peered around the corner into the atrium where Stephen was talking to one of Lester's military men, going over something. He must have felt that someone was watching him because after a moment, he looked up and directly at Connor, Abby and Nick, who just waved nervously and went back around the corner.

"Are we going to test him for the parasite?" Connor asked.

"Connor do you not see what he has in the waistband of his jeans almost everywhere he goes?" Nick said. Connor thought for a moment. A gun.

This would be a bit trickier than he thought.

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

Connor sat in his office, tapping his pen nervously on the wooden surface as his mind ran a million miles a minute. How was he going to test Stephen to see if he was infected? What if he was already infected and just minutes away from becoming homicidal?

Connor threw the pen across the room, hitting the spot right next to the door just as it opened, revealing the very bane of his previous calm (or relative calm).

"Stephen. W-What are you doing here?" Connor asked. Stephen's lips curled in a sneer but went back to that charming smile so quickly Connor wasn't completely sure if he just imagined it.

"I'm here to talk about that drink." He said, sitting on the edge of Connor's desk. Connor swallowed nervously and begged to whatever higher power there was that Cutter would interrupt again and rescue him. If Stephen was infected then maybe he was only hitting on him to...well, Connor wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of this was.

But he couldn't be too careful.

"Um, really sorry, but I'm packed for the next week. Maybe next time then?" Connor said with a nervous smile on his face. The smile faltered for a moment before Stephen nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe next time." Stephen parroted before he turned and walked out of the room. Connor breathed a sigh, stood up and peeked around the corner, seeing if the coast was clear. It wasn't. Stephen was at the end of the hallway, tugging at his hair and muttering something to himself. And he looked really agitated. Connor snuck back into his office and shut the door, locking it behind him and grabbing his cell-phone.

"_Cutter speaking."_

"It's Connor. I'm like 80-90% sure that Stephen is infected. He's getting really angry and he's just acting really weird. What do I do?" Connor asked.

"_Don't talk to him, just try and keep away from him until Abby and I figure out what to do. He seems really focused on you right now, so try and find somewhere to stay and I'll call you when it's safe to come back. Alright?"_ Cutter said.

"Alright. Tell Abby that I'll be at home. I'll take my work laptop with me." Connor said. "Can you get Stephen over somewhere else 'cause he's just at the end of the hall so he'll see if I leave." Connor said, pacing the office nervously.

"_Sure. Just don't tell anyone where you're going, alright? Just tell them you're at an anomaly site or picking up parts for the ADD."_ Cutter told him.

"Alright. Text me when the coast is clear." Connor said, then he hung up.

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

Connor packed up all his things as he waited by the door to his office for Cutter to text him. He bounced nervously on his toes and tugged on the cuffs of his gloves sub-consciously. His phone vibrated a moment later and he checked the message.

_From: Cutter  
To: Connor  
Message: It's fine. Go._

Connor breathed a sigh of relief and unlocked his door and walked out, looking over his shoulder as he went. He turned a few corners and had his head over his shoulder when he bumped into someone and instead of falling on his arse like he normally would, someone held onto his arms to keep him from falling. Connor looked up and saw Stephen looking down at him with that smile on his face.

"Hello again." Stephen said. Connor froze and his mouth opened and closed like a fish drowning in air when he heard a voice from the other end of the hall.

"Connor." It was Cutter. Stephen let go of Connor's arms like he was burned and back away a bit. Connor turned and saw Cutter beckoning him over and Connor practically ran to the professor.

"You said it was fine to leave." Connor said, his voice cracking a little bit in nervousness. Cutter gave him a look.

"No, I haven't texted you yet. I hadn't found him yet." Cutter said. Connor's eyes widened and he glanced back over at Stephen who was still standing there, but instead of that charming smile, his lips were curled in a snarl and he was glaring daggers at professor Cutter.

"Where's your phone?" Connor asked. Cutter reached into his pockets but his hands came up empty and that just made Connor want to crawl into a hole and hide.

"He knows. He knows that we know." Connor said in a panic. Cutter led the younger man away and subtly handed him a set of keys.

"Abby's staying here with me, but Stephen will be looking for you at your place. These are my house keys, let yourself in, lock all the doors and don't answer the door unless it's me or Abby." Cutter instructed. Connor nodded and walked out the front door, practically racing to his car.

All the while, standing on the upper levels, staring out the windows, was Stephen watching as Connor left.

TBC

Author's notes

Guitargirl214: The plot thickens! Not really but, yeah. It's at least an OMG moment right?

Connor: -_-

Stephen: -_-

Guitargirl214: :-(

Connor: So the action thing's gonna happen soon?

Guitargirl214: Yeah. Next chapter probably. Oh, and I'm ditching the question thing. It's really annoying and too much pressure to update within four hours. So yeah, it'll be updated when I finish off the next chapter. Hope you read and review. Bye.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Anger is Infectious**_

Chapter Four

Disclaimer- I own nothing! Except this spoon. Spoon. Hehe.

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

Connor unlocked the front door of Cutter's house with shaky hands, looking around nervously. He'd parked his car a few streets up, just in the middle of a car park and covered it with a tarp. Hopefully Stephen wouldn't think anyone was here if he checked Cutter's house but one could never be too careful. Connor opened the door and shut it behind him, locking it and putting a chair underneath the door handle for good measure. He did a quick run through of the doors and windows, making sure all of them were locked and barricaded with the curtains drawn before he settled down in the lounge with his laptop sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He would've made a cup of tea if he didn't think he would just end up dying of a cardiac episode from drinking anything with sugar or caffeine in it while his heart was racing at that moment.

He tried to work but he was just too nervous and ended up pacing back and forth in the living room, tapping his fingers nervously on his cheek, glancing at the door every few minutes. He was just about to call Cutter when someone knocked on the door. He opened his mouth to ask, 'Who is it?' when he stopped himself. Very stupid idea that would have been. He's meant to be hiding from someone that could want to kill him and he was about to give away his position like that? Smart move.

Connor walked over quietly to the next room and peeked out the curtains towards the front door and sure enough, there was Stephen freakin' Hart standing there, with a dark look on his face. He knocked again before he looked around and saw Connor standing at the window. Connor jumped back and stood, frozen for a moment. Then Stephen started pounding on the door, yelling for him to open it and let him in. Connor grabbed a table and another chair, shoving it in front of the door before he ran further into the house, opening a few of the doors to find somewhere to hide and closing a few to cover up where he might have hidden. The last door in the hallway was a bedroom and Connor ran in, shutting the door behind him and crawling under the bed.

Conner Temple panted heavily, keeping himself underneath the bed he'd found for his hiding place. He let his head drop against the cold wooden floor, trying to calm himself down and keep his breathing quiet. He heard the front door crack and finally collapse in the front room and he froze, his heart pounding in his head.

'_Oh god, oh god. He's here.'_ He thought, shaking in fear. He listened carefully and looked at the bottom of the bedroom door. He tried his hardest not to cry or speak or even breathe too loudly.

"Come on Conner. Come out here now." Stephen said, then he heard glass breaking and some small shards of what appeared to be the base of a lamp slid underneath the door. "Get out here now!" He shouted, and more things broke and shattered in the next room. Then everything went deadly quiet.

He heard footsteps from the other room coming closer and closer to the bedroom door and then it opened. He saw brown boots and the ends of blue jeans walking into the room and he covered his mouth to keep silent. The feet walked slowly around the room and he heard the bed covers being moved harshly and some furniture being knocked over. He jolted every time something was knocked over but he kept quiet.

Then the feet walked slowly out of the room and into the hallway. Conner let out a relieved, breathy laugh. Then the footsteps returned and he saw them walk over to the bed. He tried to push himself up as close to the wall as possible but he felt the person grab at his ankle and pull him out from underneath the bed.

"No! Please no!" He stuttered, kicking at the person's hand, but they didn't let go. He was pulled out from the bed and Stephen grabbed his hair, knocking his head against the wooden floor. He blinked, trying to get rid of the blurring in his eyes as he moaned in pain. Stephen tugged at his hair, bringing his face up.

Stephen looked down at him with an enraged look on his face and in the hand that wasn't holding onto Connor's hair, a large hunting knife instead of the gun Connor thought he had. Conner attempted to struggle in the older man's grip but Stephen just knocked his head down onto the floor again.

"You thought you could do this to me? You thought you could conspire like this, behind my back?" Stephen shouted at Conner, bringing the knife up threateningly to the younger man's throat.

"N-no. I wasn't conspiring, I swear." Conner said, his voice shaking in fear. Stephen let out a humourless laugh and pressed the blade lightly against the man's throat.

"You liar. Don't LIE TO ME!" Stephen roared at Conner. Conner closed his eyes and let out a terrified sob. Stephen set his mouth into a grim, thin line.

"I'm sorry to do this Connor but I can't let you off for this." Stephen said, standing up and tugging on Connor's hair so he was sitting up.

"No, no, no. Please no! Stephen, please don't!" Connor cried out, clawing at the man's hand and writhing around like a snake.

"Goodbye Connor."

"No! Stephen! NO!"

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

Connor pulled one hand away from Stephen's and just as the man went to slit his throat, he elbowed Stephen in the groin. Stephen let out of moan of pain as he dropped to the ground, the knife sliding across the floor. Connor pulled away and grabbed the knife, bolting into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. He fell to the ground, tears running down his face and small drops of blood collecting on his neck from the thin slice he'd gotten. There was quiet for a moment before he heard Stephen smashing his fists against the door, screaming at the top of his lungs. Connor just sat there and sobbed, covering his ears.

"Get out here you stupid shit! Open this fucking door!" Stephen roared. Connor shook his head and sobbed.

"Please just stop." Connor said.

"OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR!" Stephen screamed and the thuds just got louder and louder as the door started to crack from the strain.

"Oh god. Please just stop." Connor whispered, closing his eyes and curling in on himself. The noise stopped and Connor looked up, pulling his hands away from his ears.

"Stephen?" Connor said, his voice hoarse. There was no sound as Connor stood up and walked cautiously towards the door, the knife held to his chest as he put his ear against the door listening for anything.

"Stephen?" Connor called again and then, there was another crash as someone rammed into the bathroom door again. Connor jumped back and fell to the floor as a hole appeared in the bathroom door. Stephen was screaming at him again and bigger cracks appeared in the door. Connor looked around and saw a small set of drawers, one of the drawers was open, revealing some towels and washcloths. Connor got up, picked up the drawers and tried to push it against the door but Stephen managed to get his hand through the hole in the door and grabbed at Connor. The student tried to move away but Stephen managed to grab a handful of his hair, which he hadn't had the chance to cut.

"Let go!" Connor screamed, clawing at Stephen's hand to get him to let go but Stephen managed to make the hole large enough to get both his arms in, grabbing the knife from Connor's hands and managing to cut his cheek. Connor screamed and pulled away, only for Stephen's knife to come flying and instead of hitting its intended target of Connor's neck and chopped off a large chunk of Connor's hair. Connor managed to get to the other side of the bathroom while Stephen flailed around, one hand cutting thin air while the other tried to open the door.

"Get away from me!" Connor screamed, covering his ears and closing his eyes again. The noises stopped again but Connor didn't move. Then the door broke down and someone tried to pull at Connor's arms but he just struggled and hit the person.

"Connor! It's alright, it's me." Connor opened his eyes and looked up to see Cutter in front of him. Connor let out a short hysterical laugh and wrapped his arms around the professor but when he pulled away, he felt his legs give out underneath him, making him tumble to the ground. Cutter knelt in front of Connor and looked over the younger man.

"Are you alright?" Cutter asked. Connor just stared at him for a moment before he shook his head, sobs ripping their way out of his throat as he broke down. He covered his mouth but it made no difference. Cutter pulled Connor into a hug, rubbing his back and he said calming words. Cutter helped Connor up and led him out into the bedroom where Abby and two of the military personnel had tied up Stephen and gagged him. Connor tried not to look at Stephen as he went past and let himself be led outside to Cutter's car and sat in the front seat with his feet hanging out while Cutter fixed up his cuts. They waited there for a while so Connor could have a chance to calm down and the guards could load Stephen's unconscious body into the other truck. Abby came out and walked up to Connor, giving him a hug but when her hand touched his hair, she pulled away, looking at the chunk that had been cut off in the fight.

"I'll fix this when we get back to the ARC." Abby said, putting a hand on Connor's cheek. He nodded and offered her a small smile, sitting properly in the front seat so he could close the door.

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

They got back to the ARC quickly and Connor had been led to Cutter's office where Abby sat him in the desk chair and slowly cut his hair so it was even. Cutter had alerted Lester to the situation and they'd placed Stephen in an empty enclosure and discussed what to do.

"Thanks for doing this Abby." Connor said quietly, staring at his hands sitting in his lap. He'd somehow gotten bruises on his wrists, probably when he was dragged out from under the bed. Connor flinched at the memory and from the feel of the scissors grazing the back of his neck.

"It's alright. You didn't think I'd let you walk around looking like this, did you?" Abby said, eliciting a smile from the man. There were a few more seconds of silence before Abby put the scissors down on the desk and held up a pocket mirror.

"Done." She said. Connor took the mirror and looked at his reflection. His hair was cropped short and mussed up, a dramatic change from his longer hair. Connor smiled a little.

"It looks great." He said, handing the mirror back to Abby. She started cleaning up the mess when the door to Cutter's office opened, revealing a military guard.

"Cutter wants you two in the lab." He said. Abby nodded and chucked all the rubbish in the bin and walked out of the office, followed by Connor, who rubbed the back of his neck, not used to the cool air hitting it.

They got to the lab and saw Cutter standing next to the doorway to the creature enclosures, Lester next to him with a sour look on his face.

"Connor, you don't need to be here." Cutter said, glancing at the new hairstyle.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Connor asked.

"We've been discussing what to do with Mr. Hart and after ruling out the frankly outrageous options," Cutter shot a look at Lester, "We've decided to try and get the parasite to leave the host body by exposing Stephen to cold temperatures." Cutter said. He punched in the code and walked into the enclosure viewing room, followed by Abby, Lester and Connor. There, in the middle enclosure, was Stephen who was pacing back and forth, cursing and screaming at the glass. Connor backed up a little bit before Abby touched his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Let me out of here Cutter." Stephen growled, looking like an angry jungle cat.

"I can't do that right now Stephen. I'm sorry to do this but it's for your own good." Cutter said, typing something on the laptop he'd set down on the desk in front of him. Stephen's gaze was drawn to Connor and his sneer turned into that smile, the one that used to make Connor's knees melt but now it just scared the shit out of him.

"I'm sorry about earlier Connor, I didn't mean it. I'm better now. You can let me out." He said, looking innocent and nice. Connor shook his head nervously. The smile faltered.

"Come on Connor." Stephen said, "Let me out and we can go for that drink." He said, stepping towards the glass. Connor took a step back and tightened is hand around Abby's.

"N-no." Connor said shakily, hoping that Cutter hurried up whatever he was doing.

"Then what use are you, you little bastard." Stephen growled, the smile dropping as he started pacing back and forth again. "I'm gonna kill you, but only after I've gutted Cutter and the blonde bitch." Stephen snapped. Connor flinched as a noise filled the room. It was the air-conditioning system. Stephen looked up and his eyes widened in fear.

"No. Turn it off." Stephen said, looking at all of them again.

"We'll need to leave you in there for 5 or 10 minutes. It will hurt but there's nothing I can do about that." Cutter said, straight faced despite how much it must hurt him to hurt one of his friends.

"Let me out of here now. NOW!" Stephen screamed, beating at the glass. Cutter just stood there, as did Lester. Abby closed her eyes and let her head drop but Connor couldn't keep his eyes away. Stephen looked directly at Connor and smashed at the glass.

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! YOU STUPID FUCKING MORONS!" Stephen roared. Connor flinched but couldn't tear his gaze away.

"I'm going to hunt you down, and tear you to fucking pieces if you don't let me out RIGHT NOW!" Stephen screamed. Cutter and Lester turned and walked out of the room, followed by Abby and lastly, Connor, who glanced back at Stephen once before he shut the door.

_**[PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP] [PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP][PRIMEVAL][LAVEMIRP]**_

Connor stayed in his office the rest of the day, doing paperwork and trying to avoid all questions concerning his new hair, the cuts on his neck and cheek and the bruises that were a dark angry purple and covered his wrists and ankle. Abby had come in earlier to tell him that the parasite had left Stephen and was being studied. They tested him and there were no signs of any parasites or young that might have been incubating.

"Are you going to see him?" Abby asked before she left.

"Not right now. I might later." Connor said, giving her a small smile before going back to his paperwork.

Connor had absolutely no intention of going to see Stephen today but that plan was ruined when he was on his way out of the building and someone appeared in the hallways.

"Connor? Can we talk?" Stephen said. Connor didn't look at him, he just kept walking, his eyes staying on the floor. "Connor?" Stephen called again, following along. Connor continued ignoring him.

"Connor, please. Stop!" Stephen snapped and Connor froze, flinching instinctively. Stephen realised his mistake lowered his voice.

"Can we talk, please?" Stephen asked. Connor kept his eyes on the floor but nodded nonetheless.

"Fine. Say what you wanna say." Connor said, fiddling with the strap on his bag. Stephen stood in front of him, his cheeks flushed and he looked really uncomfortable.

"Connor, I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I would never have done anything like that in my right mind. You have to know that I wouldn't have." Stephen said, reaching a hand out towards Connor but the younger man just flinched.

"Connor-"

"Stephen, it's fine. I know you weren't all there. It's all fine." Connor said, faking a smile before he tried to turn around and walk away but Stephen said something that made him freeze.

"I have feelings for you." Stephen said, then this really uncomfortable silence followed. Connor turned around and looked at the other man.

"What?" He said. Stephen's gaze turned to the oh-so-interesting floor rather than at the other man's face.

"Cutter said that I might have taken such a...fascination with you because I already had strong feelings for you and that the parasite screwed with how I would've normally reacted to those feelings so I tried to hurt you instead of what I normally do and I know I have those feelings for you but I didn't think the parasite would do anything like that and-" Stephen started to ramble but then Connor held up a hand to silence him.

"I understand what you're saying and I feel the same way, but I just need...time to get over what happened. I know it wasn't you doing it, but it doesn't change that it looked like you. I'll get over but it'll take a while." Connor said, fiddling with his jacket sleeve. Stephen nodded frantically with a small smile on his face.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help you feel safe around me." Stephen said. Connor returned the smile.

"How about we start with that drink?"

"Only if I'm paying." Stephen said on the way out the door.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

THE END!

Author's notes.

Guitargirl214-Ha! Finished! Took ages.

Connor- You really expect me to forgive him after that?

Stephen- Yeah. And I wouldn't have let him shut me up like that. I would've dragged him into the nearest closet and-

Guitargirl214-And that's enough from you Stephen. /puts duct tape over his mouth/ Anyway, I hope you guys like this story. Hope you review. =^-^=


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